


Cruelty

by orphan_account



Category: Naruto
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-29
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2020-02-09 17:03:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18642343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Neji gets his shit wrecked, and then falls in love with Rock Lee.





	Cruelty

**Author's Note:**

> the mid section sucks, sorry

Rock Lee hadn’t noticed it, but recently, Neji Hyuga had been distancing himself from him. It was not like he wanted to, at first he hadn’t really noticed it himself, but it was very true that Neji was in fact, growing further and further from Lee.

So when Neji did begin to become aware of it, he felt comfort in the fact that his teammate was to dimwitted to possibly have paid attention to this himself.

That however didn’t stop him from freezing in his place for a moment when Lee would touch his shoulder, or slide his hand down his back in the friendliest of ways, almost to say ‘Good work today’, or ‘You did very well’.

He took comfort in it, but that only made him hyper aware of his touches. Hypersensitive to his presence, to the feeling of his chakra, which was warm and bright. Incredibly acute to the way he moved during a spar, through cooldown, through everyday life. Not one speck of evil hidden in that brilliantly kind soul of his. The aura he gave off, the smile he wore, and if not a smile, then a look of pure determination, shining with sweat. Almost everything the boy did would make Neji find himself incredibly uncomfortable.

Looking at him, alone, made him feel sick. Which made Neji think,

_ This must be what jealousy feels like. _

Or so he thought, so he treated Lee with anger for a while.

Lee noticed this.

 

One particular day, there wasn’t any real commotion going on in the village. The sky had one or two gray clouds, but there were no missions, nothing to truly be stressed about. Still, seeing Lee at the gates to the Hyuga household and sector on his way home made his chest cave in. 

_ How ugly _ . He forced himself to think.  _ How annoying _ . The words had no real anger behind them, but he thought of them anyways. It only made sense to.

Practically dragging his feet to the gates that had been there ever since Princess Hinata had been kidnapped, he tried to ignore Lee.

But, oh, what a feeling the young man gave off.

He was clearly distressed, so why smile?

“What do you want?” Neji asked, so blunt, the words riddled with hate. It would make anyone back off. But not Rock Lee. Rock Lee was an idiot, after all.

“Guy sensei,” he began, “isn’t here today. Ten  ten, well she wouldn’t even answer the door, though that is pretty normal of her, so I wondered if you would like to spar with me? We haven’t done any fundamentals recently, so-”

“No, go away.”

“But I-”

“Are you deaf? Go away.” 

He raised his voice, but Lee didn’t waver, and instead, took hold of his wrist, and it felt as though a hole was being pounded out of Neji’s heart. Certainly, he thought, Lee could hear it. He froze up.

“Neji, are you okay? You’ve been very cold to me recently.” He laughed nervously. “Neji…” Lee paused, lifting his hand away from Neji’s wrist, and brought it up to his face, before being slapped away by his hand a bit too hard. He winced.

“ **Don’t** touch me.”

“...I’m sorry..” Lee’s brows drew close together, peering up at Neji through a quite guilty looking face, to find Neji’s own tinted in hate, a glare shooting daggers back at him.

Like a puppy with its tail between it’s legs, Lee took the hint, and with no goodbye, scuttled off.

He did nothing wrong. Neji revelled for a small while having had felt superior, it felt nice to make the boy feel unwanted. He looked at his wrist, rubbing it slightly, and pushed the doors open.

 

Lee was lying about Might Guy being away from the village. It didn't matter now though, did it? The three sat on the roof of the hokage office as their teacher looked them over one by one, slowly. It was annoying, and he was about to say something, before Tenten did it for him.

“Um, so are you going to recap us on the mission or what?”

Guy was looking at Lee, who’s shoulder blades were tense, and his hands pushing on his knees, the boy looked like he was gonna cry. He was uncomfortable.

_ Serves him right. _

“Uh, hello? Earth to Guy!”

“Huh? Yeah, now lets see. Tsunade gave us this here um,” he fetched a scroll out of his back pocket. He gave it a one two over. “Hmm, well, we don’t really need to do this right now do we? Don’t worry about it.”, and threw the scroll over his shoulder.”

“Hey! We need that you dummy! I swear, with you I just go absolutely….” The kunoichi rose from her seat, fetching after the scroll that had fallen over the building. 

The rooftop was quiet and the atmosphere surrounding Lee and Might Guy molded into one aura of anxiety as he approached him, sat down, asked him questions, rubbing the younger man’s back in circles similar to a father, cracking a joke or two, let Lee’s laugh, then relaxed back into himself. He was alreadt standing as he heard the footsteps of Tenten crawling back up the building staircase out of breath.

“Didja have to throw it so far? Geez.” She exhaled, observing the men in front of her, and walking back to her seat. “Something happen while I was gone?”

“No Tenten!” Lee’s voice cracked, making Neji kiss his teeth in annoyance. “Uh, so what is on that scroll after all?”

“Well, I was reading it while running back, seems that-”

 

There had been an artifact stolen from from the village hidden in the cloud’s museum grand opening by a team of bandits. It was a priceless heirloom of the 2nd raikage, seems that they had put in a request specifically for Team Gai, signing “It’d be nice, since you specialize in speed and attack.” 

“Ooo, what a boost to the ego, huh Lee?” Tenten asked him.

“Mhmm, it’s nice to know we’re good for something!” He laughed his usual hearty laugh. It was just nice to listen to, so warm, such a sweet sound. So naturally, Neji tried to block the sound out.

 

Team Gai had been traveling for a while now, so the Cloud Village must not have been to far off, but it was clear they were being watched. Followed. Neji had sensed it first, as usual, and made a sign to Gai, who was already nodding. 

“The Bandits?” He asked, slowing his pace to match Neji, who was always last in their formation. 

“Undoubtedly.”

Gai chuckled, smiling grandiose. “Well this is just  _ great!  _ Ten ten, Lee. Formation B. We’ve got some company.”

“Already? Can’t we just ignore them or something? We’re already close to the village-”

“No can do Ten ten. These are the bandits.”

“What? Really? That just makes it worse…”

Neji glanced at Lee, not on purpose not exactly on accident. Not that he cared. 

Lee was mimicking the same theatrical grin Gai had. The two were one in the same. Except that grin on Lee had made Neji feel widely more irritated than he had felt when he saw it on Gai. Lee hadn’t even done anything, and yet his existence was enough to provoke the living hell out of Neji.

His brain ran with endless thoughts, mostly-

_ What is he smiling for? _

  
  


Formation B, an almost mordant name for a formation, as it was their go to formation to most altercations. It required Ten ten to take hold in the back, prevent being seen, and aiding in silent ambushes via mid combat with Gai. So she fell back a few meters behind the other 3, to the right, in preparation.

The group of bandits were indeed following them. 

A group of rogue ninja, nonetheless. Could they perhaps have been hired by a lord of a nearby village? Could they possibly be searching revenge against the hidden mist village?

Well, what did that matter now. Battle first, questions later.

It was a formula that Might Gai had gone by. First, restrain the enemy, and once all was said and done, pry the secrets out of them. By force if necessary. A 1, 2 step plan. A very simple plan, for a very simple man; and it usually worked.

 

Usually.

 

These ninja were not the usual ninja a team of taijutsu specialist could go up against easily.

 

“Gai, stop!” Neji called.

“Whats going on?” Gai asked, halting suddenly.

Neji planted his feet in the tree bark, taking in his surroundings before activating his byakugan. 2 miles ahead, and all around them, was a great wall of chakra. He sighed.

“Genjutsu.”

“Oh dammit. Ten Ten!” Gai cried out. “Come back!”

Silence.

“You don’t think-” Lee began.

“No use pondering. You two wait here, I’ll take you both out of the Genjutsu.” He pressed his hands together to form a chakra seal. “Release!”

And he was gone.

 

The two were left to their own devices, waiting for the sensei to take them out of the genjutsu. 

A minute passed.

Then two.

Five.

“What’s taking him so long?” Neji dug his heel into the bark on the tree branch they stood atop. 

“Perhaps he got in some trouble, we should help him!” Lee replied, voice slightly less excited than usual. His hands fidgeting with themselves.

Neji scowled.

“You can’t release yourself from a genjutsu. You expect me to do that for you?”

“I would surely hope you would, after all, we are-”

“Teammates. Yes, I understand that.  _ How useless _ .” He muttered that last part under his breath, though he made it just loud enough for Lee to hear, and he did.

“Neji,” Lee stood slightly taller now. “Do you have something against me? Have I done something to offend you? Make no mistake, I never have had any intention to hurt you in any way.” He took a step towards his teammate, reaching for his wrist before hesitating. 

Neji watched Lee’s expression change from worried to persistent. He wouldn’t let this conversation go so easily would he? There was no time for it anyhow. Gai had to be in some sort of trouble. He saw Lee’s brows furrow deeply, and even deeper. 

Neji realized that he didn’t quite like the feeling of seeing Lee’s face twisted in upset, but he didn’t stop the ridicule.

“Have you done anything? Do you think this is any time to be discussing a topic as futile as that? Are you  _ dense?” _

“I apologize-”

“You better! What a waste of time this is.” He felt that sense of superiority at seeing Lee cower rise in his chest again, yet, a twinge of disgust in himself for being so harsh so casually. “Your precious Gai sensei could be dead, and yet, you want to know how I feel about you?”

Lee’s face went pale. Yes, of course, how could he waste time thinking about something like that now, when they had a mission to accomplish? What if Gai really was dead? What about Ten Ten? How many bandits were there anyways? His eyes darted as he searched the ground for answers.

“And you just keep looking at the bark, it’s almost as useless as you are.” He spat out each word. “And you know what? Even tree bark could be used as paper. But what are you good for?”

He paused.

“Exactly. Nothing.” Pressing his hands together, focusing and forming chakra, Neji closed his eyes.

“Release!”

He had no intention of releasing Lee from the genjutsu. If Gai was alive, there would be no problem crushing the bandits.

Is what he told himself.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he felt a sandal kick at his face. He wheezed in as he tried to control his breathing, before another sandal connected to his right cheek.

“Boss, this one is awake!” The man above him, definitely not large, average sized at best, but muscular, his loud twangy voice rung around his surroundings from his cupped hands.

There was no way for Neji to activate his byakugan without being noticed, but his eyes without it had incredible peripheral vision.

Gai, approximately 8 feet to his right, and a man standing above him as well. Larger, no doubt. His chakra felt dull. Almost depleted. His breathing was heavy, and...was that a forming bruise on his side arm? 

_ You must have given him a run for his money. _

The man above him must have interfered as well, his chakra was running low. His stamina weakened, his chest was rising and falling. A smug grin formed on his face. 

If only he hadn’t been attacked as soon as he woke up, what could he do then?

He squeezed his hands, clenched and unclenched.

“Is that right? Good job.” The voice belonged to their so called boss, Neji connected the dots. 

“What are we gonna do with em?”

A thud, loud and heavy resounded in Neji’s right ear. A female voice grunting.

_ Ten Ten. Thank God. _

“Hmm, kill ‘em.”

Well, fuck you God.

“Sounds good to me!” Both men pulled two lengthy swords from their sheaths, circling both Gai and Neji.

Neji’s brain raced as he tried to think of an outing. He quickly calculated how much chakra he had. Nearly all, though his head was still dizzy from the kick to the chin. Damn, that hurt. 

_ No, I mustn't think of that now. _

In mere seconds, their throats would be sliced, and Ten Ten would be next. Then, Lee.

Of course, Lee. 

His unarmed sleeping teammate, still under genjutsu. His body just gently resting. He must be so scared. Worried. Would he just die under genjutsu? Is he just going to let that happen to himself?

_ Yeah right.  _

Like hell he would let that happen to himself.

Neji let his legs kick up, knees bending and purposely grabbed the blade of the sword, wincing and pulling it to his right before using the momentum of the kick to stand.

Shaky, he noticed. Though nothing he can’t work with.

He slammed his bloody palm into the eyes of his enemy, blinding him momentarily. 

The man dropped his sword.

“ _ Argh _ ! Ah fuck, my eyes!” 

Picked up the sword, and making note of it weight, Neji swiftly stabbed it into the crying out man, who released a blood curdling screech at the blade point hitting his spine.

Blades are very different from the art of taijutsu, and he had trouble pulling it out of the man, who was almost cartoonishly writhing in pain, with the blade still lodged into him, stuck between muscle.

“Serves you right, now stay still!”

“Who are you to say that?” The older and larger man stood behind Neji, causing both him and the blinded man to pause in a moment of fear.

The man dropped, likely out of blood loss, along with the sword

Neji chuckled nervously, putting up a quick facade. 

“You intend to go after me, now?” Muscle memory enacted, going into his usual stance. “I have to warn you, I’m no easy opponent!”

The robust and muscular man kept quiet merely swept his entire left arm to the right, sending Neji flying, landing in the dirt.

“You’re fast, for a big man like yourself-” Quick indeed, the man was. He took hold of the back of Neji’s head, and pushed it into the dirt.

“You talk too much.” 

“I’m not usually the one told tha-” his face connected to the ground again, harder this time. His mouth tasting of blood.

His entire body was sent flying with a heavy kick, he rolled in the ground.

The man picked him up, by his hair, dragging him by the scalp.

“Hey, hey boss!” He shouted. “This kid’s got the byakugan!”

“Is that so? Hmm. Don't kill him then, those eyes of his can go for thousands, millions maybe.”

“Aww-”

“But you can go crazy on him, if you’d like. I’m going ahead.”

The large man smiled, the sound of it audible, almost like skin cracking. The hair on Neji’s head pulled at his scalp painfully. He winced in frustration, and pressed at the man's arm, inserting chakra to close his chakra points.

No reaction.

_ Seriously _ ? Neji pondered. And began to dig his hands at the mans large one. 

A last resort, he dug his nails into the man's hardened skin. Over and over again.

Nothing.

Was this it? All those missions, all the practice. All the time spent training, all of that. Did it really do nothing to prepare his from something like this?

His eyes burned. He shut them tight.

A tear began to form.

  
  


“Leaf hurricane~!”

_ What? _

The hand entangled in his hair released suddenly, a slight tug, and a loud exclamation of pain resounded.

Then silence.

Neji opened his eyes, what he saw surprised him, though, by the loud shout of his own move, it was clear who it was who had saved him.

“Neji. Are you okay?” Rock Lee offered his arm out, as the chakra from having the gates opened poured out of every pore like flames around him.

He blinked.

“...Yes” he took his hand to steady himself. A brief moment a silence passed as Lee’s chakra roared. 

“Um-”

“Gai and Ten Ten. They’re okay?”

“Oh, yes! It seems as though they were merely knocked out, in fact.” He observed Neji’s face, the boy was hunched over. “You seem to be the only injured one.”

“That would just be my luck, wouldn’t it?”

“I apologize, I couldn’t get to you sooner-”

“You…” Neji paused, taking in Lee’s reddened face as his body began to come down from it’s high point. “You were able to release...from genjutsu.”

A sweet and cheeky smile formed on Lee’s face. Prideful and childlike.

“The gates. I opened them, the gate of life to be exact, and used the chakra that was pouring out of me to-”

Neji listened closely, not quite to what Lee was saying, but how he was saying it. The situation was so dire, and yet Lee was able to lessen the density of the air by merely arriving on scene.

“Mmm,” Neji hummed. “Anyhow, thank you.”

Lee paused mid sentence. He ran his tongue over his teeth and let his eyes fall to the ground.

How long now had it been since Neji had offered genuine gratitude? Well, there was no way to be sure that his thanks was sincere. But it surely felt sincere. It surely felt, well,  _ nice _ , for a change.

“No, thank you Neji.” He made eye contact, his face fierce. “If you hadn’t told me how useless I was, perhaps we four would be dead by now! It was you who-”

“Stop.” Neji put up his hand. Had he really said that? Well of course he had. He hadn’t meant it, however. He wasn’t sure of that, he wanted to tell himself he meant it. 

So he did.

And he felt guilt from that.

His heart dropped.

He looked up at Lee’s face who was running eyes all over Neji. 

Then more guilt.

To call a teammate useless.

How brutal.

How cruel.

He took his hand.

“I apologize, Lee.”

“Huh? What?  _ Huh?” _ Lee’s eyes darted back and forth.

“I was very cruel before. I apologize.”

“Neji…”

“Now,” He cleared his throat, pulling his hand away. “one of the bandits got away. Presumably with the heirloom. What’s the course of action to take there? Two of us are out of action. So, at this point, it’s just you and I. I say we-”

“Two? Neji, you’re  _ injured _ . You must take it easy, just relax, you are in no fighting condition-”

Lee walked besides Neji, and took hold of his left arm. Neji winced.

“You have not even noticed it Neji, perhaps due to the adrenaline. But your arm is fractured!”

Suddenly a jolt of pain hit Neji, he recoiled. Lee was right, it must be broken, or something like that. 

“So it is.”

“Yes, it is.” Lee looked at him. “And, who is to say that man had the heirloom anyhow? We’ve yet to search  _ this _ man for the artifact.”

Lee was right. They haven’t, but Neji just assumed the man who had run off had the artifact. That would sense, wouldn't it? 

Lee made his way to the full figured man(Neji followed, albeit, limping) and began to pat him down across his chest, stomach area, pelvic region, legs-

“Neji?”

“Hmm?”

“The heirloom, it was a sapphire necklace of the village crest, wasn't it?”

“Yes, it… you found it?”

Lee smiled, raising the dangling jewelry in front of him, giving a thumbs up almost as to say  _ Rest Assured, the mission is accomplished _ .

“Now, for step 2.” Neji sighed, and felt his legs give out under him, falling from the dizziness that finally overcame him.

“Neji!” Rock Lee rushed over to his side, “You must be lightheaded, here.” He took his jacket off, tucking it behind his head, propping Neji’s neck up and easing the quickly forming headache. “We have already finished the mission. Just relax now.”

Neji hummed in response.

They were only halfway done, with a bandit being on the loose, three fourths of their team down, and the largest bandit merely passed out, the mission was far from done. 

However, being told that by Rock Lee finally eased Neji’s mind.

 

When the team had returned to konoha, Lee had offered his back for Neji to ride on, and usually, he would refuse, call him gross or an idiot, and continue walking.

So when he agreed, when he limped over and ordered lee to kneel so he could properly climb onto his back, all 3 of the other Team Gai members jaws practically unhinged from their heads.

And then the konoha ninja.

And then konoha.

But what was there to say anyhow? Lee didn’t mind, clearly, as he continued to talk about how he was able to find a way to release from genjutsu, how his training paid off, his smile deepened and his eyes smiled in pure happiness. 

He hadn’t even noticed when the arm that was wrapped around his shoulders grew tighter, and Neji brought his face closer to Lee’s back, pressing his ear against the green spandex and listened to the fast paced beating of Lee’s heart like it was music.

He closed his eyes.

If Lee didn’t mind, why should he?

 

It began when Lee dropped Neji off at the Konoha emergency hospital, unwrapped his vest from his hips and put it back behind Neji’s head, that Neji had realized it felt good to be cared for. He didn’t even remember why he treated this Lee so cruel before. 

As Lee waved goodbye, Neji felt something wrong, he wasn’t sure what, but it was obvious he didn’t like the idea of Rock Lee leaving him.

Like a child, he grabbed Lee’s wrist, and when Lee turned around confused, he loosened his grip, eventually, releasing his hand altogether.

“Neji, what is it?”

“Nothing. Goodbye.”

And so he watched Lee’s back as he turned back around, leaving the hospital and Neji to his own devices.

 

That was the first time Neji Hyuga found himself longing to spend more time with his teammate.

 

By the second time, he finally realized what an awful and horrible mistake he had committed by treating Rock Lee so harshly, and he realized the boy was in no way deserving of that behaviour. Lee’s puppy dog demeanor and his loyalty to his friends proved that he wasn’t annoying. He was just kind.

 

That was all.

 

One particular night, while laying in his bed, staring out his window the Hyuga courtyard and up at the night sky, the thought dawned on him.

He truly liked Rock Lee.

It wasn’t a bad thought. Not necessarily a good thought. More or less leaned on the worse side of the “thought” spectrum, and began to weigh down on that side as his head began to swim in the deep dark pool which was the fact that he, indeed, did like Rock Lee.

He sniffed. 

He didn’t treat Lee good for a while now. Of course, now his actions towards his sparring partner was less brutal than a month ago, more on the safety side. More on the “I wouldn’t like it if he got hurt because of me, so I’ll be careful today” side. 

He tossed in the bed for a while, as he tried to ease his heart.

He didn’t get much rest that night.

 

He began to grow softer to Lee’s subtle touches now, and began to lean on the man when he got the chance. He hated that most about the entire situation. He realized, that when his scarred yet incredibly soft hand ran against his back, he no longer pulled away and instead now, let himself hum in appreciation.

Now, Neji began to take appreciation in the boy.

He never questioned himself or entertained the idea that Rock Lee still may find Neji intimidating, he may find him difficult to be around. He figured these all to be trivial matters. 

If Lee didn’t like him, he would say that.

He spent another night looking at the ceiling thinking about that small and silly idea that, now as he listened to the crickets creak, began to swallow him in a wallow of worry.

 

The next day, while Neji watched Lee kick at the tree in an empty plain from the grass, he asked him rather abruptly- 

“Do you like me, Lee?” he said, eyes focused.

Lee paused with his leg midair. It wasn’t like Neji to ask questions like that, so it came as a shock. “Yes, yes I do. Why wouldn’t I? You are a great teammate.”

Neji’s heart felt full at that response, brimming with bright, he asked-

“Do you love me?”

“Excuse me?”

“Do you love me, I asked.”

“Um, yes. You mean a lot to me.”

“I do, do I?”

“Are you okay, Neji?” 

Lee made his way over to Neji who was smiling to himself like a child and hadn’t even realized Lee standing before him.

When he looked up, their eyes met.

“Neji? Is something the matter.”

“No, not anymore.”

Lee erased the conversation from his thought. It meant nothing, as he believed his love for his teammates was very obvious.

But to Neji, his words meant the world.

It’s always good to know when someone loves you back.

 

So now, he let himself fully relish in the fact that Lee liked him back. No, love, was that the word he used? 

He ran the events backwards in his head.

“...I do. You mean a lot to me.”

Juvenile happiness swarmed his heart full and stopped him dead in his tracks as he paced his room.

_ You’re spending to much time thinking about him. _

Oh, but what was the harm in doing such a thing? After all, Lee liked, no, Loved him back. 

That was the word used in the context after all.

 

Rock Lee now, began to grow wary of Neji as he never had done before.

There was something about the subtle smile and breathlessness about him recently that made Lee conscious of everything he did. 

He didn’t like it very much, truth be told.

In fact, he found Neji’s constant twirls at the side of his lips so incredibly out of character. So off, and the weirdest thing was, he only did it around him.

Yes, indeed that  _ was _ weird wasn’t it?

He stopped jogging as he pondered the situation as a whole.

And then, he shook it off. 

Neji was just Neji after all.

 

However, Neji Hyuga was falling more and more in love every day.

Each day, instead of shaking Lee off for a morning run, he would join him. And instead of agreeing with Ten Ten when she made subtle snide comments about Lee, he now found them crude and vulgar.

And oh, how he hated this about himself.

He hated that he couldn’t say no to Lee, because he knew that would only make him miss out on the possibility of spending alone time with him,

He hated saying no to favors, because he knew the possibility of Rock Lee being mad at him for even a minute was to much for him to take.

And he knew Lee’s love wasn't in the same nature as Neji’s.

But he loved him all the same, and the ease was there.

Easing Neji’s mind wasn't easy. It was difficult for him to do it himself, for he was used to the constant stream of thought running through his mind, never a second to stop thinking and just relax, take deep breaths. There was no time for it.

For now, however, he would lean on Lee and relax whenever they were together, and whenever he got the chance.

Perhaps Rock Lee hadn’t noticed it, but recently, Neji Hyuga had been growing closer and closer to him. At first he hadn’t really noticed it himself, but it was undoubtedly true that Neji was, in fact, infatuated with Rock Lee.

 

**Author's Note:**

> the mid section sucks, sorry.


End file.
